AT&T: Stop throttling the data speeds on plans with unlimited data!

UPDATE: AT&T is digging in its heels after 10,000 people signed this petition. The company responded to the campaign by saying customers with unlimited plans can only access three gigabytes of data per month -- meaning unlimited plans no longer exist!

AT&T has quietly started to slow down the data of customers who they say use too much data -- even when the customer has an unlimited data plan!

I've been a loyal AT&T customer for more than three years, and I was excited to subscribe to their unlimited plan. Like many people, I use my smartphone for all kinds of things from listening to music to navigating unfamiliar neighborhoods to accessing important software applications and documents related to my work as a physical therapist.

All that data usage can add up -- and that's why when AT&T began offering plans for 2 or 3 gigabytes of data each month, I passed and stuck with my unlimited plan. Now it turns out that the plan isn't so unlimited after all!

AT&T is sticking to the letter of their agreement, but not its spirit. If customers are in the top 5% of data users in their area, they get a message from AT&T warning that if they remain in the top 5%, they risk having their data flow slowed down to a virtual standstill. Can you imagine? A web page that would normally have taken 30 seconds to load could take 5 minutes or longer once AT&T puts on the brakes.

This just isn't fair -- no one who buys an unlimited data subscription be punished for using unlimited data.

AT&T blames this practice on customers for using too much data -- the company should instead look in the mirror. It's hard to believe AT&T would throw away $3 billion on a failed merger with T-Mobile instead of spending that money to build out its network capacity so that it could honor its promises.

Instead of honoring its promises, AT&T just shifts the blame to you and me for using the service we've paid for. Please sign my petition to put a stop to this once and for all.

This petition was delivered to:

AT&T Mobility President & CEORalph de la Vega

AT&T National Broadcast MediaSteven Schwadron

AT&T Blogger RelationsSeth Bloom

1 more decision maker...

AT&T CEORandall L. Stephenson

Letter to

AT&T Mobility President & CEORalph de la Vega

AT&T National Broadcast MediaSteven Schwadron

AT&T Blogger RelationsSeth Bloom

AT&T CEORandall L. Stephenson

I just signed the following petition addressed to: AT&T.

----------------Stop throttling the data speeds on plans with unlimited data!

Dear Mr. Stephenson,

I demand that you immediately stop throttling the data of customers with unlimited data subscriptions. Customers retained unlimited plans because they were promised unlimited data. Slowing their download speeds by up to 99% effectively prevents mobile internet users from using their mobile devices for anything but the most basic of uses.

Your data throttling, which takes place without due process, clearly violates the spirit of the agreement your customers entered with you. Even worse, in many cases it appears that customers have received warnings for using too much data when using 2 - 3 gigabytes of data per month -- as much as the two tiered data plans AT&T now offers. AT&T has proven itself to be a bad-faith actor with respect to its customers again and again.

It's galling that in the face of criticism for this policy, AT&T has repeatedly blamed its customers for using too much data! Instead AT&T should look at its persistent failure to invest sufficiently in its own networks while selling data plans for which it couldn't provide adequate service. In fact, your company just threw away $3 billion it could have used for network expansion on a failed attempt to buy T-Mobile.

If the public is to have faith in your word as a company and as a brand, it is imperative that you stop throttling customers' data on unlimited plans today.